“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” broke the record for the highest number of first-day presale tickets for Fandango, AMC and IMAX.
According to Fandango, the site has sold eight times as many tickets as it did on the first day for the previous record holder, “The Hunger Games” in 2012 — and that’s even before the 24-hour mark was reached. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in 2010 slipped to third place in first-day advance sales.
Traffic on Fandango surged to seven times the site’s typical peak levels, a site spokesperson reported.
“Movie theaters are continually adding new show times on Fandango to meet the phenomenal demand,” the company said in a statement. “The enthusiasm for this year’s most anticipated movie is out of this world and we expect it to continue all the way to its debut on December 18.”
Similarly, MovieTickets.com reported that the online ticketer saw traffic “three times higher than the highest peak in the company’s 15 plus year history.” Comparably, the advance ticket sales for “The Force Awakens” are already four times greater than advance tickets sold for “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”
AMC reported that the film set the company’s single-day advance ticket sales record, beating the previous record by more than 10 times. Moreover, in less than 12 hours, AMC sold out more than 1,000 shows nationwide.
The presales for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” also broke every IMAX record, generating over $6.5 million in domestic ticket sales. It is currently set to open on 390 IMAX across the country.
Monday evening marked the launch of advance ticket sales for J.J. Abrams‘ “Star Wars” vision online at Fandango and Movietickets.com. Tickets were not supposed to go on sale until after the new “Force Awakens” trailer aired, however they went live around two hours before the teaser hit small screens with many fans suffering slow response times or flat-out crashes as the platforms were flooded.
The full theatrical trailer for the film also premiered during the halftime show of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
“The Force Awakens” is directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow, with Harrison Ford,Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker reprising their roles from previous “Star Wars” films.